Phillies Scoop: Darin Ruf is battling sore elbow, cold bat

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Darin Ruf hasn't played in left field the last two games, and there was a reason: He was dealing with an achy throwing elbow that he said had cleared up when he gave his arm a test run prior to the Phillies' 12-5 loss to the Twins at Hammond Stadium Wednesday.

Slightly more bothersome for the slugger is his hitting line in Grapefruit League games. He's 0-for-9 after getting robbed by Twins third baseman Mark Sobolewski on a sharp grounder in the hole in the eighth inning.

"I'm still searching for my first (Grapefruit League) hit ever," Ruf said. "I think I got a few at-bats over the years (in one-day call-ups from minor-league camp) and I didn't get any then, either. Oh well. As long as I'm getting good at-bats. I'm seeing the ball well. Mark made a nice play on that. I thought we were better friends than that.

"(The arm) was a little sore in the biceps area, but it's normal. It's feeling great today, and I'll be back in (left field today)."

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"His arm's a little sore," Charlie Manuel said of Ruf, who hit 41 home runs in the 2012 regular season between Double-A Reading (38) and a September cameo with the Phils, "but he hasn't played in the outfield much before.

"He needs to get a hit. He's just trying a little bit too hard."

While Ruf was robbed by a nice defensive play by the Twins, the Phillies have been doing a lot more charity work than larceny with the gloves. They committed three errors Wednesday and had at least three other plays -- two at third by Kevin Frandsen and another at shortstop by Freddy Galvis -- that were graciously scored hits when they easily could have been judged errors.

Manuel considered the Phillies' poor fielding one of the biggest factors as they sunk to 81-81 last season. And after seeing them commit nine errors in five spring games, he's getting irritated again.

"They gave me a headache today," Manuel said of his fielders. "We can't play like that if we expect to win. Look, we're going to make mistakes. But you can't make that many mistakes and make the same mistakes over and over again every day. I mean, what the hell?

"We had one clean inning today. Dropped balls, missed balls ... don't get me wrong, I'm not panicking. But at the same time, I'm looking for better play. I don't (care) what the date is, you have to play better."

Attention, chronically panicky people and owners of headwear made out of tinfoil: Chase Utley is OK.

The Phillies decided to pull the second baseman out of the lineup as a precaution Tuesday after torrential rains soaked the field prior to a home game against the Yankees. Utley also didn't play Wednesday against the Twins, because he wasn't scheduled to make the 3-hour bus ride to Fort Myers in the first place.

His knees are fine, and he will start at second base in today's home game against Atlanta.

NOTES: Starter Jon Lannan gave up one run on four hits (including one of those graciously scored Frandsen boots) in two innings. ... Adam Morgan, Justin DeFratus and B.J. Rosenberg all got knocked around on the mound, with the latter two not doing themselves any favors as they vie for the final opening in the bullpen. ... On the positive side, Domonic Brown mashed another baseball -- this time a 390-foot shot that hit the base of the fence in deep right-center for an RBI double. Brown also drew a first-inning walk and scored three runs. Carlos Ruiz had two hits and three RBIs. ... Cole Hamels starts today against the Braves, who reportedly are sending Jason Heyward and both B.J. and Justin Upton to Clearwater for the game.